Water well & drought?

[wjoerob]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

 

[bp fick]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

Most municipalities won't give you the choice, legally.

Droughts should not effect water levels down deeper.
By deeper, I mean in excess of 60'. Do you have water at 25' or similar, normally? That is defined as a shallow well and usually, the water at that level is seldom safe to drink, but could be if run through an RO.

 

[whistlepig]

I'm thinking of switching from city water, and having a well drilled. Neighbor's results of wells are a mixed bag around here. But I'm wondering about the effects of the drought we've had here in central Indiana this summer (driest summer since the '60's.). I know surface water is different from lower level water, but could it have an effect?

We have lived here a little over three years with our well. Well water is our only option. I think it mostly depends how close the neighbors are drawing water from the same water table. Our next door neighbor has watered 100 head of dairy cattle for thirty years from his well and never had it run dry. We're pretty rural here and so far the drought hasn't hurt us. Wells can be unpredictable. Good ones that never run dry and wells drilled a mile away that dry up frequently.

 

[Kays Supply]

Are you on city sewer? That would have an impact on the city letting you go to a well. They use the water flow to determine sewer fees. In Illinois it is code that if you have access to city sewer you must connect.

 

[wedge40]

I rented an old house in Bloomington about 18 years ago and it still had well water, even though they could have tapped into the city supply if they wanted. There it was pretty expensive to use the well water, and a ton of up-keep. They had a water softener that ran every other day and still hard water stains everywhere. Can't tell you how many cloths and appliances I ruined because of the hard water. So before making the plunge, I'd have the water tested.

Wedge

 

[mmurphy]

I wish you could have had some of our rain this past summer!
If your well is drilled shallow into a unconfined aquifer, drought in your area will have some effect one way or another.
If your well is in a confined aquifer, your area will not effect it as much as quite a bit north of you would have. (Or what ever the inpermeable layers of ground run in your area.)
Here in central Iowa, alot of unconfined well water can be influenced as far as Canada. So, probably the same for your area.
Well drillers in your area probably would have a lot of information they would share with you on your aquifiers.

 

[300UGUY]

I rented an old house in Bloomington about 18 years ago and it still had well water, even though they could have tapped into the city supply if they wanted. There it was pretty expensive to use the well water, and a ton of up-keep. They had a water softener that ran every other day and still hard water stains everywhere. Can't tell you how many cloths and appliances I ruined because of the hard water. So before making the plunge, I'd have the water tested.

Wedge

In addition, having a well drilled isn't cheap. My neighbor just had a new well put in, and she shopped around, getting several bids. She ended up paying $4500 for the well. That would pay for about 10 years of city water here, but it isn't availible this far out.

 

[300UGUY]

Most municipalities won't give you the choice, legally.

Droughts should not effect water levels down deeper.
By deeper, I mean in excess of 60'. Do you have water at 25' or similar, normally? That is defined as a shallow well and usually, the water at that level is seldom safe to drink, but could be if run through an RO.

Most wells in this part of Michigan are going 160 - 200 ft deep. My neighbor had a well, a hand driven point well, that was 42 ft deep. The water just nasty, no way could you drink it. After the point plugged up, she had a new well put in. 200 ft deep, real nice water now. She doesn't even need a softener now.

 

[RickB]

"Here" you can't legally drill a well in an area with a public water supply. Commercial well drilling outfits are fully aware of this.

The notion that drought conditions will not affect a drilled well's output is fantasy in most areas.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

we're lucky here, we have a pond in our back yard about 150 yards from the well, the surface of the water is 3' below the top of the well, so it is a good indicator of water in the area. Our sump pit is also 20 yards from the well and 2 yards below surface, the soil in it is always damp. We're just over 1 1/2 miles from a large river. We have yet to have problems, but, its always a good idea to keep an ear out to the neighbours in the drier times.

 

[wjoerob]

We are at the farthest edge of a town/rural water company, but NOT required to use it. Some in our area do have town water, many have wells. Wells range widely in depth: we had good consistent water at 32' on the east side of the county, some on the west side have 150-400' wells. We live just up the hill from a small creek, and have a small pond in our back yard, both of which ran dry over a month ago. A county extension agent told me there is no way to predict how drought would affect deep water. But he made a good point -- if we drill now and hit good water supply, it will keep on being good, even if we go into another drought/dry cycle in a few years.

 

[jinman]

It has been my experience that well drillers know more about aquifers and water well drilling than anyone else. I would talk to several. The longer they have been drilling, the better their advice will be. Also, if you have dairy operators in your area, they may know a lot about wells since they use a lot of water.

 

[dmccarty]

Droughts should not effect water levels down deeper.
By deeper, I mean in excess of 60'. Do you have water at 25' or similar, normally? That is defined as a shallow well and usually, the water at that level is seldom safe to drink, but could be if run through an RO.

I cannot believe I did not think of this earlier.

A few years ago when we were in the middle of a drought I was curious about what was happening in wells. I found a website that had data from the state of NC and the Feds regarding water levels in wells. Of course I cannot find that website now. :laughing:

Water level had decreased in the well but it was not much, only about %10 if my memory is right. Most of the wells were drilled wells down 200-300 feet. There was one well that I assume was hand dug since it was 36 inches in diameter. This well was fairly shallow and was in Chapel Hill.

What is interesting is that I have also read that the ground water is recharged over hundreds to thousands of years. Which if true then the water level would not decrease in a drought.

But the NC data showed the water level had decreased.

Later,
Dan

 

[dodge man]

DON'T DO IT! Stick with the city water. We have a well, good water, endless supply, but we are going to hook up when the rural water comes by our house next year. We have to use a water softner, we also have filters. You have to take all that into account when computing cost. You also have pumping costs, plus maintance on the well, such as a new pump every few years. You also need to think about what happens when the power goes off. City water is also usually a safer source.

I know at times the bill can seem expensive, but I bet in the long run its cheaper.

 

[rjkobbeman]

DON'T DO IT! Stick with the city water. We have a well, good water, endless supply, but we are going to hook up when the rural water comes by our house next year. We have to use a water softner, we also have filters. You have to take all that into account when computing cost. You also have pumping costs, plus maintance on the well, such as a new pump every few years. You also need to think about what happens when the power goes off. City water is also usually a safer source.

I know at times the bill can seem expensive, but I bet in the long run its cheaper.

We recently built a new home on the outskirts of town. We have city water but are on an aeration system.

The funny thing is I thought going to our "own" sewer system would save money. Boy was I wrong! (Call me naive/uneducated on the subject!) We moved from within the city limits of one town to just outside the city limits of another town (same county). Our water bill at the new place is the same as the water AND sewer bill at the old place. But now I have the added cost of the aeration system and installation. On top of that, I think I calculated our aeration motor costs about $30 month to run. Nothing wrong with the motor, but running a 3-4 amp motor 720 hours a month adds up.

Anyway...

Although I love having my open spaces and being a little farther out, I would never turn down city water and sewer.

 

[dmccarty]

Our city "water" bill included water, sewer and trash pickup.

A good round number is that our water cost us at least $50 a month. Which over five years would be $3,000.

We did just have to replace the pressure tank for $400 and there is some power cost to operate the pump. Maybe $10 a month. Though that seems high but lets go with it since it as $600 over five years. So our costs to run the well in five years are $1,000 at our country house. Five years at our old city house would have been over $3,000. Water prices have gone up drastically in our old city so $3,000 is a low number.

I cannot remember what our well cost but it was about $2,000 to $3,000. Hooking up to city/county water is usually not cheap either. A family member HAD to hook up and it cost them $5,000.

We do need to spend some money to build a proper well house and putting in a water filter would be a good idea.

But for us having a well is far cheaper than the city water. The water tastes much better and our water does not smell of chemicals like the city water does.

Carefully check your costs.

For every gallon of water we used we got charged for a gallon of waste water. For us this was a who cares but if you are on a septic system and they charge you for waste water.....

Later,
Dan

 

[mmurphy]

We recently built a new home on the outskirts of town. We have city water but are on an aeration system.

The funny thing is I thought going to our "own" sewer system would save money. Boy was I wrong! (Call me naive/uneducated on the subject!) We moved from within the city limits of one town to just outside the city limits of another town (same county). Our water bill at the new place is the same as the water AND sewer bill at the old place. But now I have the added cost of the aeration system and installation. On top of that, I think I calculated our aeration motor costs about $30 month to run. Nothing wrong with the motor, but running a 3-4 amp motor 720 hours a month adds up.

Anyway...

Although I love having my open spaces and being a little farther out, I would never turn down city water and sewer.

Why do they have you using a aeration system????

 

[rjkobbeman]

Why do they have you using a aeration system????

Because we don't have access to city sewer?

 

[mmurphy]

Because we don't have access to city sewer?

O.K. I take it that wasn't for drinking water but sewage... Do they not allow septic systems with leach fields?

 

[rjkobbeman]

O.K. I take it that wasn't for drinking water but sewage... Do they not allow septic systems with leach fields?

Oh, I see what you meant...

I'm not real knowledgeable on the different types of systems. All I know is that is what the county said we had to have. Don't know if that is all they allow or if my particular case demanded it.

We have hard clay and things don't soak in real fast. Don't know if that is the reason or not.

I do know mine is all underground. Have the tops of the tank sticking up of course... and some cleanouts/chlorine access tubes... but other than that, the drain in all underground. I like this. I can drive over everything without worry.

We have an "emergency overflow" which liquid does come out of a lot. (Not a lot of liquid, but liquid comes out often.) I suppose that is because our soil (clay) is not allowing the underground drainage to do its job quick enough.

I do know the county inspectors have always commented on how nice out setup is. Apparently there are lots of issues with others' systems.

How is the septic / leach field setup work? I have heard about them but don't know anything about it.